Category Archives: Existential

Trading Glances

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Trading Glances allows people to trade glances separated in time. The installation consists of a screen displaying faces streaming by as if the viewer were passing people in the street.

As the viewer watches the other person’s face, the system records their face and precise eye movements. Later their face is added to this stream of faces in the installation and on the project web site. People can go to the site to see who glanced at them and replay exactly how another person’s gaze travels across their face. Ones’ eye movements can betray very private preferences and yet they are usually publicly viewable. This project tries to invade the privacy of the person doing the surveillance.

Eyebeam

The Difference that Doesn’t Make A Difference


Glimmers


At ITP we believe that computational media will make possible exciting new artistic forms. Unfortunately there is not so much evidence to back up that belief. In the arts computers are used to more efficiently create work in traditional linear or static forms. Doubters say that you will always break the spell on audiences imagination when you ask them to interact. We have found some interesting glimmers in our Physical Computing classes at ITP by taking the opposite approach, demanding much more of more parts of the user. I will talk here a little bit about the theoretically background for Physical Computing and then very practically about how we implement it in our curriculum.

Computers for the Rest of You

Ambigraph

This is a wristpiece for studying the objective passage of your day. You subjective memory of the passage of your day is weighted towards moments that pop to your conscious attention. This is a wristwatch attempts to automatically log the landmarks of your day by recording changes in ambient conditions such as heat, light and orientation. Each activity in your day usually has a signature combination of these ambient measurements. The Ambigraph logs the data and uploads it into a display on your computer.
For instance you can tell how often you went to the bathroom, how long it takes you to walk to work, how much time you spent staring at the computer, talking on the phone, how much you move in your sleep, how long it takes you to brush your teeth. This might be more than you want to know but the theory is that activities where there is a great discrepancy between perceived and actual time either be avoided or pursued depending on how the discrepancy runs.
Technical Notes : The data gathering and storage is using the Basic Stamp with tilt, heat, and light sensors. The visualization was created using Macromedia Director/Lingo.